WA2000
Summary
| Country | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Category | Sniper rifle |
| Manufacturer | Walther |
Technical specifications
| WA2000 | |
|---|---|
| Fire Rate | Single shot rounds/min. |
| Caliber | .300 Winchester or .308 Winchester or 7.5 x 51 mm Swiss |
| Magazine | 6 rounds |
| Length | 905 mm (35.6 in) |
| Weight | 6.95 kg (15.3 lb) |
| Range | 1000 m (3281 ft) |
Description
The Walther WA 2000 is a semi-automatic bullpup sniper rifle developed by Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen in response to the 1972 Munich massacre. Designed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was produced from 1978 to 1988 and introduced to the market in 1981. With only 176 units manufactured, it is one of the rarest production firearms, ceasing production due to high costs and concerns about its robustness for military use.
The rifle's design incorporates a bullpup configuration, which reduces overall length while preserving barrel length and ballistic performance. The barrel is free from contact with the furniture to prevent distortion and is fluted to dampen vibration and assist cooling. The barrel is aligned with the user's shoulder to mitigate recoil, and the bolt mechanism is situated behind the handgrip. The stock is fully adjustable. Firing from a closed bolt, the weapon utilizes a bolt with seven locking lugs and features a single-stage or two-stage trigger with a pull weight of 1.2 to 1.4 kg. It does not have iron sights but typically employs a Schmidt & Bender 2.5–10× telescopic sight with a quick-detachable mount. The unloaded rifle weighs 6.95 kg, increasing to 7.35 kg when loaded. The standard sight and .300 Winchester Magnum caliber contribute to high accuracy. The WA 2000 uses single-stack box magazines with a 6-round capacity, weighing 0.4 kg when loaded.
The WA 2000 was chambered in:
.300 Winchester Magnum
7.62×51mm NATO
7.5×55mm Swiss
A total of 176 rifles were produced in two variants. The first model used a "can" type flash suppressor, while the second generation featured a conventional "flash-hider/compensator" design, incorporating changes to improve accuracy.
Production of the rifle ran from 1982 until November 1988. Its limited production and high manufacturing cost resulted in limited sales, and it was never adopted by military units due to its cost and perceived lack of robustness for field conditions. The rifle did see limited use by some German police units.